Klis

Klis (Croatian: Klis, Italian: Clissa, Turkish: Kilis) is a Croatian town located around a mountain fortress bearing the same name. It is located in the region of Dalmatia, located just northeast of Solin and Split near the eponymous mountain pass.[1] It has a population of 2,621, totalling 4,421 together with the eight other villages in its municipality (census 2001).

1.
Klis Fortress
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The Klis Fortress is a medieval fortress situated above a village bearing the same name, near the city of Split, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. Since Duke Mislav of the Duchy of Croatia made Klis Fortress the seat of his throne in the middle of the 9th century, the fortress served as the seat of many Croatias rulers. The reign of his successor, Duke Trpimir I, the founder of the Croatian royal House of Trpimirović, is significant for spreading Christianity in the Duchy of Croatia. He largely expanded the Klis Fortress, and in Rižinice, in the valley under the fortress, he built a church, during the reign of the first Croatian king, Tomislav, Klis and Biograd na Moru were his chief residences. After their defeat by Croatian forces, the Mongols retreated, and Béla IV rewarded many Croatian towns, during the Late Middle Ages, the fortress was governed by Croatian nobility, amongst whom Paul I Šubić of Bribir was the most significant. During his reign, the House of Šubić controlled most of modern-day Croatia and Bosnia, excluding the brief possession by the forces of Bosnian King, Tvrtko I, the fortress remained in Hungaro-Croatian hands for the next several hundred years, until the 16th century. Klis Fortress is probably best known for its defense against the Ottoman invasion of Europe in the early 16th century, Croatian captain Petar Kružić led the defense of the fortress against a Turkish invasion and siege that lasted for more than two and a half decades. During this defense, as Kružić and his soldiers fought without allies against the Turks, the faction of Uskoks was formed. Ultimately, the defenders were defeated and the fortress was occupied by the Ottomans in 1537, the Venetians restored and enlarged the fortress, but it was taken by the Austrians after Napoleon extinguished the republic itself in 1797. Today, Klis Fortress contains a museum where visitors to this historic structure can see an array of arms, armor. Owing to its position, the fortress is regarded as one of the region’s most important fortifications. Historically, the fortress has controlled access to and from Bosnia, Dalmatia, the importance of such a position was felt by every army that invaded, or held possession of this part of Croatia. Klis Fortress was a point against which their attacks were always directed and it has been of major strategic value in Croatia throughout history. The ancient Illyrian tribe of Dalmatae, which held a stronghold on this spot, were the first known inhabitants who lived on the site of what is today Klis Fortress and they were defeated several times, and in the year 9 AD, finally annexed by Romans. Todays Klis Fortress was known to the Romans by the name of Andetrium or Anderium, and in later times Clausura, to the Romans, Klis became famous for its celebrated siege by Augustus, at the time of the Illyrian revolt in Dalmatia. The road that lead from Klis to Salona was called Via Gabiniana or Via Gabinia, which according to an inscription found at Salona, appears to have been made by Tiberius. Southeast of the fortress, the traces of a Roman camp are still visible, as well as an inscription carved on a rock, the description of this siege during the Illyrian Wars demonstrates that this place was strong and unreachable in those times. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Barbarians plundered the region around Klis, first it was ruled by Odoacer, and then by the Theodoric the Great, after he eliminated Odoacer, and set up an Ostrogothic Kingdom

2.
Croatian language
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It is the official and literary standard of Croatia and one of the official languages of the European Union. Croatian is also one of the languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a recognized minority language in Serbia. Croatian is written in Gajs Latin alphabet, besides the Shtokavian dialect, on which Standard Croatian is based, there are two other main dialects, Chakavian and Kajkavian. It is still used now in parts of Istria, which became a crossroads of various mixtures of Chakavian with Ekavian/Ijekavian/Ikavian dialects, the cultural apex of this 17th century idiom is represented by the editions of Adrianskoga mora sirena by Petar Zrinski and Putni tovaruš by Katarina Zrinska. However, this first linguistic renaissance in Croatia was halted by the execution of Petar Zrinski. Subsequently the Croatian elite in the 18th century gradually abandoned this combined Croatian standard, specifically, three major groups of dialects were spoken on Croatian territory, and there had been several literary languages over four centuries. The leader of the Illyrian movement Ljudevit Gaj standardized the Latin alphabet in 1830–1850, the uniform Neo-Shtokavian then became common in the Croatian elite. In the 1860s, the Zagreb Philological School dominated the Croatian cultural life, drawing upon linguistic, while it was dominant over the rival Rijeka Philological School and Zadar Philological Schools, its influence waned with the rise of the Croatian Vukovians. Croatian is commonly characterized by the Ijekavian pronunciation, the use of the Latin alphabet. Some differences are absolute, while some appear mainly in the frequency of use, Croatian, although technically a form of Serbo-Croatian, is sometimes considered a distinct language by itself. Differences between various forms of Serbo-Croatian are often exaggerated for political reasons. Most Croatian linguists regard Croatian as a language that is considered key to national identity. The issue is sensitive in Croatia as the notion of a language being the most important characteristic of a nation is widely accepted. The terms Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat are still used as a term for all these forms by foreign scholars. Within ex-Yugoslavia, the term has largely replaced by the ethnic terms Serbian, Croatian. In 2013, the EU started publishing a Croatian language version of its official gazette, Standard Croatian is the official language of the Republic of Croatia and, along with Standard Bosnian and Standard Serbian, one of three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also official in the regions of Burgenland, Molise, additionally, it has co-official status alongside Romanian in the communes of Carașova and Lupac, Romania. Croatian is officially used and taught at all the universities in Croatia, there is no regulatory body that determines the proper usage of Croatian

3.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages

4.
Turkish language
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Outside of Turkey, significant smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union add Turkish as an official EU language, in 1928, as one of Atatürks Reforms in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Turkish alphabet was replaced with a Latin alphabet. The distinctive characteristics of Turkish are vowel harmony and extensive agglutination, the basic word order of Turkish is subject–object–verb. Turkish has no classes or grammatical gender. Turkish has a strong T–V distinction and usage of honorifics, Turkish uses second-person pronouns that distinguish varying levels of politeness, social distance, age, courtesy or familiarity toward the addressee. The plural second-person pronoun and verb forms are used referring to a person out of respect. Turkic languages belong to the Altaic language group, the Turkic family comprises some 30 living languages spoken across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia. Turkish is a member of the Oghuz group of languages, a subgroup of the Turkic language family, there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between Turkish and the other Oghuz Turkic languages, including Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, Gagauz, and Balkan Gagauz Turkish. The earliest known Old Turkic inscriptions are the three monumental Orkhon inscriptions found in modern Mongolia, erected in honour of the prince Kul Tigin and his brother Emperor Bilge Khagan, these date back to the second Turk Kaghanate. The Seljuqs of the Oghuz Turks, in particular, brought their language, following the adoption of Islam c. Turkish literature during the Ottoman period, particularly Divan poetry, was influenced by Persian, including the adoption of poetic meters. One of the tasks of the newly established association was to initiate a reform to replace loanwords of Arabic. By banning the usage of imported words in the press, the association succeeded in removing several hundred words from the language. While most of the words introduced to the language by the TDK were newly derived from Turkic roots, owing to this sudden change in the language, older and younger people in Turkey started to differ in their vocabularies. While the generations born before the 1940s tend to use the terms of Arabic or Persian origin. The past few decades have seen the work of the TDK to coin new Turkish words to express new concepts and technologies as they enter the language. Many of these new words, particularly information technology terms, have received widespread acceptance, however, the TDK is occasionally criticized for coining words which sound contrived and artificial. Some earlier changes—such as bölem to replace fırka, political party—also failed to meet with popular approval, some words restored from Old Turkic have taken on specialized meanings, for example betik is now used to mean script in computer science

5.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period

6.
Dalmatia
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Dalmatia is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea. The hinterland ranges in width from fifty kilometres in the north, to just a few kilometres in the south,79 islands run parallel to the coast, the largest being Brač, Pag and Hvar. The largest city is Split, followed by Zadar, Dubrovnik, the name of the region stems from an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae, who lived in the area in classical antiquity. Later it became a Roman province, and as result a Romance culture emerged, along with the now-extinct Dalmatian language, later largely replaced with related Venetian. With the arrival of Croats to the area in the 8th century, who occupied most of the hinterland, Croatian and Romance elements began to intermix in language and the culture. During the Middle Ages, its cities were conquered by, or switched allegiance to. The longest-lasting rule was the one of the Republic of Venice, between 1815 and 1918, it was as a province of Austrian Empire known as the Kingdom of Dalmatia. It was the Romans who first gave Dalmatia its name, inspired by the Illyrian word “delmat”, meaning a proud and its Latin form Dalmatia gave rise to its current English name. In the Venetian language, once dominant in the area, it is spelled Dalmàssia, the modern Croatian spelling is Dalmacija, pronounced. Dalmatia is referenced in the New Testament at 2 Timothy 4,10 so its name has been translated in many of the worlds languages. In antiquity the Roman province of Dalmatia was much larger than the present-day Split-Dalmatia County, Dalmatia is today a historical region only, not formally instituted in Croatian law. Its exact extent is uncertain and subject to public perception. According to Lena Mirošević and Josip Faričić of the University of Zadar, simultaneously, the southern part of Lika and upper Pounje, which were not a part of Austrian Dalmatia, became a part of Zadar County. From the present-day administrative and territorial point of view, Dalmatia comprises the four Croatian littoral counties with seats in Zadar, Šibenik, Split, Dalmatia is therefore generally perceived to extend approximately to the borders of the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia. The Encyclopædia Britannica defines Dalmatia as extending to the narrows of Kotor, other sources, however, such as the Treccani encyclopedia and the Rough Guide to Croatia still include the Bay as being part of the region. This definition does not include the Bay of Kotor, nor the islands of Rab, Sveti Grgur and it also excludes the northern part of the island of Pag, which is part of the Lika-Senj County. However, it includes the Gračac Municipality in Zadar County, which was not a part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia and is not traditionally associated with the region, the inhabitants of Dalmatia are culturally subdivided into two or three groups

7.
Solin, Croatia
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Solin is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea, Solin developed on the location of ancient city of Salona which was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and the birthplace of Emperor Diocletian. After the arrival of Avars and Croats in the 7th-century town was destroyed, in the Early Middle Ages Solin was part of the Croatian territory and played an important role in Medieval Croatian state, being one of the political centres. In the 20th century intensive industrialisation process of the Split basin made Solin no more than a suburb of Split, today, with its independent municipal status, Solin is part of the Split conurbation, well connected with other towns. Besides industry, a tourism is being developed based on numerous archaeological sites. Solin is situated north of the Split peninsula, in a surrounded by mountains Kozjak to the north. The city covers an area of 18 km2, situated in the part of the Split conurbation,8 km north of Split,6 km east of Kaštela,22 km east of Trogir and 4 km south of Klis. Residential and business parts of the city are located in the part of the rivers flow. The ruins of the ancient Salona are located in the middle, the climate is Mediterranean, with mild winters and hot summers. During the winter, a strong north-eastern wind Bura occurs frequently, in the late ancient times, Salonas importance was great both politically and religiously. Salona was an early Roman settlement, which became overshadowed when Emperor Diocletian constructed the nearby Diocletians Palace in about the year 300 AD. Surviving local residents of Salona, after the Avars retreated from those regions, to a settlement Spalatum, todays, christianity in Salona probably originated during the time of the apostles. The Apostle Paul mentions that his pupil Apostle Titus traveled to Dalmatia so the assumption that he worked in Dalmatias capital city of Salona and that city, located on the Adriatic coast, with excellent sea connections with Italy and the Middle East, attracted Christian messengers of faith. Salona had a well-organized Christian community with a bishop as leader ever since the middle of the 3rd century and that means that at that time they held primary positions in western Illyria. Siscias bishop from the region Pannonia joined the Dalmatian bishops on the held in Salona in the years 530 and 533 as a member with full rights. At the time of Diocletian, Salona had a population of 60,000, in 639 Salona was destroyed by the Croats. After the fall of Salona and the region under the Avarian rule. Namely, Pope John IV ordered transportation of parts of their relics, the images of those saints, which had been created in mosaic by the Popes wish, can be found today in the apside of the chapel

8.
Split, Croatia
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Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a peninsula and its surroundings, Splits greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands, Split is one of the oldest cities in the area. Split became a Byzantine city, to gradually drift into the sphere of the Byzantine vassal, the Republic of Venice. For much of the High and Late Middle Ages, Split enjoyed autonomy as a free city, Venice eventually prevailed and during the early modern period Split remained a Venetian city, a heavily fortified outpost surrounded by Ottoman territory. Eventually, its hinterland was won from the Ottomans in the Morean War of 1699, and in 1797, as Venice fell to Napoleon, the Treaty of Campo Formio rendered the city to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg added it to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, during World War II, the city was annexed by Italy, then liberated by the Partisans after the Italian capitulation in 1943. It was then re-occupied by Germany, which granted it to its puppet Independent State of Croatia, the city was liberated again by the Partisans in 1944, and was included in the post-war Federal Yugoslavia, as part of its republic of Croatia. In 1991 Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia amid the Croatian War of Independence, the city draws its name from the spiny broom, a common shrub in the area, after which the Greek colony of Aspálathos or Spálathos was named. The Serbo-Croatian term became Split or Spljet, while the Italian-language version, Spalato, in the late 19th century, the Croatian name increasingly came to prominence, and officially replaced Spalato in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. For a significant period, the origin of the name was thought to be related to the Latin word for palace. Various theories were developed, such as the notion that the name derives from S. Palatium, the erroneous palace etymologies were notably due to Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, and were later mentioned by Thomas the Archdeacon. The city, however, is several centuries older than the palace and it was a colony of the polis of Issa, the modern-day town of Vis on the island of the same name. Issa, itself a colony of the Sicilian city of Syracuse, had acquired sovereignty and started founding its own colonies in 367 BCE, the exact year the city was founded is not known, but its estimated to have been in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, in time, the Roman Republic became the dominant power in the region, conquering the Illyrians in the Illyrian Wars of 229 and 219 BCE. Upon establishing permanent rule, the Romans founded the Province of Dalmatia, the city of Salona, only a short distance from Spálathos, became the capital of the province and evolved into a significant city in the Roman state. The history of Spálathos becomes obscure for a while at this point, being overshadowed by that of nearby Salona, the Roman Emperor Diocletian reformed the government in the late Roman Empire and established the Tetrarchy

9.
Mountain pass
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A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass, the highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world appears to be Mana Pass, located in the Himalayas on the border between India and China. Mountain passes make use of a gap, saddle or col, a topographic saddle is analogous to the mathematical concept of a saddle surface, with a saddle point marking the highest point between two valleys and the lowest point along a ridge. On a topographic map, passes are characterized by lines with an hourglass shape. Passes are often found just above the source of a river, a pass may be very short, consisting of steep slopes to the top of the pass, or may be a valley many kilometres long, whose highest point might only be identifiable by surveying. Roads have long been built – and more recently railways – through passes, some high and rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath to allow faster traffic flow throughout the year. The top of a pass is frequently the only ground in the area. If a national border follows a mountain range, a pass over the mountains is typically on the border, and there may be a control or customs station. For instance Argentina and Chile share the worlds third-longest international border,5,300 kilometres long, the border runs north-south along the Andes mountains, with a total of 42 mountain passes. On a road over a pass, it is customary to have a roadside sign giving the name of the pass. As well as offering relatively easy travel between valleys, passes also provide a route between two mountain tops with a minimum of descent. As a result, it is common for tracks to meet at a pass, passes traditionally were places for trade routes, communications, cultural exchange, military expeditions etc. A typical example is the Brenner pass in the Alps, some mountain passes above the tree line have problems with snow drift in the winter. This might be alleviated by building the road a few meters above the ground, there are many words for pass in the English-speaking world. In the United States, pass is very common in the West, the gap is common in the southern Appalachians, notch in parts of New England. Scotland has the Gaelic term bealach, while Wales has the similar bwlch, the roads at Mana Pass at 5,610 metres and Marsimik La at 5,582 metres, on and near the China-India border respectively, appear to be worlds two highest motorable passes. Media related to Mountain passes at Wikimedia Commons

10.
Mosor
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Mosor, or Mount Mosor, is a mountain range in Croatia located near the city of Split on the Adriatic coast. It belongs to Dinaric Alps, and it stretches from the pass of Klis in the northwest to the Cetina River in the southeast, the highest peak is the eponymous Mosor peak at 1,339 m. a. s. l. There are no inhabited areas on the mountain above 600 metres, Mosor is mainly composed of karst — limestone rocks. There are two huts and many mountaineering paths on Mosor

11.
Mali Kozjak
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Kozjak, also known as Mali Kozjak or Primorski Kozjak is a mountain located above the town of Kaštela in Dalmatia, Croatia. It belongs to Dinaric Alps, and it stretches from the pass of Klis in the southeast, the highest peak is Veli vrj above Kaštel Gomilica. Its southern slope is steep, and northern rock slopes gradually turns to the corrugate plateau of Dalmatian Zagora. Kozjak is mainly composed of karst — limestone rocks, Mali Kozjak in town of Kaštela is more known than Veliki Kozjak above the village of Kijevo. On the west side of the ridge is well-known mountain centre of Malačka on 477 m and its highest peak overlooks the city of Split, the ancient Roman settlement of Salona, towns of Solin, Kaštela, Trogir, and most of central Dalmatia islands

12.
Split (city)
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Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a peninsula and its surroundings, Splits greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands, Split is one of the oldest cities in the area. Split became a Byzantine city, to gradually drift into the sphere of the Byzantine vassal, the Republic of Venice. For much of the High and Late Middle Ages, Split enjoyed autonomy as a free city, Venice eventually prevailed and during the early modern period Split remained a Venetian city, a heavily fortified outpost surrounded by Ottoman territory. Eventually, its hinterland was won from the Ottomans in the Morean War of 1699, and in 1797, as Venice fell to Napoleon, the Treaty of Campo Formio rendered the city to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg added it to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, during World War II, the city was annexed by Italy, then liberated by the Partisans after the Italian capitulation in 1943. It was then re-occupied by Germany, which granted it to its puppet Independent State of Croatia, the city was liberated again by the Partisans in 1944, and was included in the post-war Federal Yugoslavia, as part of its republic of Croatia. In 1991 Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia amid the Croatian War of Independence, the city draws its name from the spiny broom, a common shrub in the area, after which the Greek colony of Aspálathos or Spálathos was named. The Serbo-Croatian term became Split or Spljet, while the Italian-language version, Spalato, in the late 19th century, the Croatian name increasingly came to prominence, and officially replaced Spalato in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. For a significant period, the origin of the name was thought to be related to the Latin word for palace. Various theories were developed, such as the notion that the name derives from S. Palatium, the erroneous palace etymologies were notably due to Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, and were later mentioned by Thomas the Archdeacon. The city, however, is several centuries older than the palace and it was a colony of the polis of Issa, the modern-day town of Vis on the island of the same name. Issa, itself a colony of the Sicilian city of Syracuse, had acquired sovereignty and started founding its own colonies in 367 BCE, the exact year the city was founded is not known, but its estimated to have been in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, in time, the Roman Republic became the dominant power in the region, conquering the Illyrians in the Illyrian Wars of 229 and 219 BCE. Upon establishing permanent rule, the Romans founded the Province of Dalmatia, the city of Salona, only a short distance from Spálathos, became the capital of the province and evolved into a significant city in the Roman state. The history of Spálathos becomes obscure for a while at this point, being overshadowed by that of nearby Salona, the Roman Emperor Diocletian reformed the government in the late Roman Empire and established the Tetrarchy

13.
Ottoman wars in Europe
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The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars in the 13th century, followed by the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars and the Serbian–Ottoman Wars in the 14th century. Much of this period was characterized by Ottoman expansion into the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire made further inroads into Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in the peak of Ottoman territorial claims in Europe. The Ottoman–Venetian Wars spanned four centuries, starting in 1423 and lasting until 1718, the island of Corfu under Venetian rule remained the only Greek island not conquered by the Ottomans. Nevertheless, Ottoman armies were able to hold their own against their European rivals until the half of the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century the Ottomans were confronted with insurrection from their Serbian and this occurred in tandem with the Russo-Turkish wars, which further destabilized the empire. The final retreat of Ottoman rule came with the First Balkan War, Constantinople fell in 1453 after the Battle of Varna and the Second Battle of Kosovo. The remaining Greek state fell in 1461, sofia fell in 1382, followed by the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire Tarnovgrad in 1393, and the northwest remnants of the state after the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. Much of Serbia fell to the Ottomans by 1459, the Kingdom of Hungary made a partial reconquest in 1480, the Ottomans took much of Albania in the 1385 Battle of Savra. The 1444 League of Lezhë briefly restored one part of Albania, until Ottomans captured complete territory of Albania after capture of Shkodër in 1479 and Durrës in 1501. It has been argued that Albanian resilience halted the Ottoman advance along the Eastern flank of the Western Civilization, Sultan Mehmet II died in 1481, merely two years after the collapse of the Albanian resistance and one year after he launched an Italian campaign. Ottoman Empire first reached Bosnia in 1388 where they were defeated by Bosnian forces in the Battle of Bileca, after the fall of Serbia in 1389 Battle of Kosovo, where the Bosnians participated through Vlatko Vuković, the Turks began various offensives against the Kingdom of Bosnia. The Bosnians defended themselves but without much success, Bosnians resisted strongly in the Bosnian Royal castle of Jajce, where the last Bosnian king Stjepan Tomašević tried to repel the Turks. The Ottoman army conquered it after a few months of the siege of Jajce, in 1463, the House of Kosača held Herzegovina until 1482. The Ottomans meanwhile reached the river Neretva and having conquered Herzegovina in 1482, they encroached upon Croatia, a decisive Ottoman victory at the Battle of Krbava field shook all of Croatia. However, it did not dissuade the Croats from making persistent attempts at defending themselves against the attacks of the superior Ottoman forces. After almost two hundred years of Croatian resistance against the Ottoman Empire, the victory in the Battle of Sisak marked the end of Ottoman rule, the Viceroys army, chasing the fleeing remnants at Petrinja in 1595, sealed the victory. The Kingdom of Hungary, which at the time spanned the area from Croatia in the west to Transylvania in the east, was gravely threatened by Ottoman advances. The origins of such a deterioration can be traced back to the fall of the ruling dynasty and their subsequent replacement with the Angevin

14.
Fortress
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices

15.
Sanjak of Klis
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The Sanjak of Klis was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire which seat was in the Fortress of Klis in Klis till capture by Republic of Venice in 1648, laterly in Livno between 1648-1699. The Sanjak of Klis was established on 12 March 1537, after Ottoman victory in the Siege of Klis, Klis was stronghold of Uskoks and thorn in both Venetian and Ottoman side. It was captured by Ottoman forces commanded by Murat Beg Tardić on behalf of Gazi Husrev-beg who was the sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Bosnia, the territory of the Sanjak of Klis was composed of the newly captured territories of western Bosnia, Dalmatia, Lika and Krbava. The Vilayet Croats was disestablished when it was annexed by the newly established Sanjak of Klis in 1537, the first land survey of the Sanjak of Klis was done in 1540 within the survey of the Sanjak of Bosnia. The defter of 1550 is the oldest preserved defter of the Sanjak of Klis and this early 15th century defters show that the territory of this sanjak was depopulated. The Ottomans populated barren lands with fresh wave of herdsmen, the Sanjak of Klis was part of the Bosnia Eyalet since it was established in 1580, as described by famous Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi. Murat-beg Tardić was appointed as the first sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Klis, Tardić remained on that position until 1544 when he was appointed to position of the sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Požega. Malkoč-beg died in 1545 as sanjakbey of Klis, sinan, a son of sultans wife and sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Klis, died in 1593 in a battle. In 1596 sanjakbey was Mustafa-pasha Pijade-pašić, in period 1609 —1615 sanjakbey was Zulfikar-pasha Atlagić whose successor Piri-pasha killed him in 1616. In 1645 sanjakbey was Miralem who was Albanian, in 1648 sanjakbey was Mehmed Mustajbegović who lost Klis to Venetians

16.
Eyalet of Bosnia
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The Eyalet of Bosnia or Bosnia Beylerbeylik was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to the Great Turkish War, it had included most of Slavonia, Lika. Its reported area in the 19th century was 20,281 square miles, after the execution of King Stephen Tomašević in 1463, the central part of the Kingdom of Bosnia was transformed into the sanjak of Bosnia. The Duchy of Herzegovina was added in 1483, in 1580, Ferhad Pasha Sokolović became the first governor of the Bosnia Eyalet, as beylerbey. The Bosnia Eyalet included the Sanjak of Bosnia, Sanjak of Herzegovina, Sanjak of Vučitrn, Sanjak of Prizren, Sanjak of Klis, Sanjak of Krka, the Ottoman wars in Europe continued throughout the period, and the province reached its territorial peak in 1683. The Great Turkish War that ended in Ottoman defeat in 1699 led to a significant decrease in the territory of the Eyalet, after the Treaty of Karlowitz, the province was down to four sanjaks and twelve captaincies. Before the Treaty of Passarowitz, another 28 military captaincies were formed and this kind of intensive military administration corresponded to the Austrian Military Frontier on the other side of the same border. In 1703 the seat of the pasha was moved from Sarajevo to Travnik, because Sarajevo had been destroyed by fire in the war, at the beginning of the 19th century, Bosnia was one of the least developed and more autonomous provinces of the Empire. In 1831, Bosnian kapudan Husein Gradaščević occupied Travnik, demanding autonomy, ultimately, exploiting the rivalries between beys and kapudans, the grand vizier succeeded in detaching the Herzegovinian forces, led by Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, from Gradaščević’s. This new entity lasted only for a few years, after Rizvanbegovićs death and it was one of the first Ottoman provinces to become a vilayet after an administrative reform in 1865, and by 1867 it had been reformed into the Bosnia Vilayet. Constitutional development of Bosnia and Herzegovina

17.
Venetian Republic
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It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice. It was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages, the Venetian city state was founded as a safe haven for people escaping persecution in mainland Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In its early years, it prospered on the salt trade, in subsequent centuries, the city state established a thalassocracy. It dominated trade on the Mediterranean Sea, including commerce between Asia, Europe and North Africa, the Venetian navy was used in the Crusades. Venice achieved territorial conquests along the Adriatic Sea, the city became home to an extremely wealthy merchant class, who patronized renowned art and architecture along the citys lagoons. Venetian merchants were influential financiers in Europe, the city was also the birthplace of great European explorers, including Marco Polo, as well as the classical music composer Vivaldi. The republic was ruled by the Doge, who was elected by members of the Great Council of Venice, the ruling class was an oligarchy of merchants and aristocrats. Venice and other Italian maritime republics played a key role in fostering capitalism, Venetian citizens generally supported the system of governance. The city-state enforced strict laws and employed ruthless tactics in its prisons, the opening of new trade routes to the Americas and the East Indies via the Atlantic Ocean marked the beginning of Venices decline as a maritime republic. The city state suffered defeats from the navy of the Ottoman Empire, in 1797, the country was colonized by Austria and France, following an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte. Venice became a part of a unified Italy in the 19th century and it was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the Most Serene Republics. He was the first historical Doge of Venice, whichever the case, the first doges had their power base in Heraclea. Ursuss successor, Deusdedit, moved his seat from Heraclea to Malamocco in the 740s and he was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty. Such attempts were more commonplace among the doges of the first few centuries of Venetian history. They desired to remain well-connected to the Empire, another faction, republican in nature, believed in continuing along a course towards practical independence. The other main faction was pro-Frankish, supported mostly by clergy, they looked towards the new Carolingian king of the Franks, Pepin the Short, as the best provider of defence against the Lombards. A minor, pro-Lombard faction was opposed to close ties with any of these further-off powers, the successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori, the two emperors had recognised that Venice belonged to the Byzantine sphere of influence, many centuries later, the Venetians claimed that the treaty had recognised Venetian de facto independence, but the truth of this claim is doubted by modern scholars

18.
Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories

19.
Bura wind
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The Bora is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Poland, Russia and Turkey. The same root is found in the name of the Greek mythological figure of Boreas/Βορέας, historical linguists speculate that the name may derive from a Proto-Indo-European root *gworh- meaning mountain and giving rise to Germanic burg and berg. A similar pattern is seen in the name of the buran winds of central Asia. In Modern Greek, the word describes a intense summer rain that lasts for a few minutes. In Croatian burno means violently and is used to describe the weather. The changeable Bora can often be felt all over Montenegrin Littoral, Dalmatia, Istria, the Slovenian Littoral, Trieste, the Bora is most common during the winter. As the air grows even colder and thus denser at night and its initial temperature is so low that even with the warming occasioned by its descent it reaches the lowlands as a cold wind. The area where some of the strongest bora winds occur is the Velebit mountain range in Croatia, Bora occurs because these two divided masses tend to equalize. Sailing during the Bura can be challenging and it requires caution, short, high waves with white crests are its characteristics, making the navigation difficult. The small drops formed by the wind create a so-called sea smoke that reduces the visibility significantly, experienced seamen have a proverb, When Bura sails, you dont. Near the towns of Senj, Stara Novalja, Karlobag and the portal of the Sveti Rok Tunnel in Croatia. On 21 December 1998 the speed of a gust on the Maslenica Bridge was measured at a speed of 248 kilometres per hour. During 22 to 25 December 2003 on A1 highway near Sveti Rok Tunnel new record was measured at speed of 304 kilometers per hour. In February 2012, during the Eastern European Cold Wave, the shoreline in Senj froze and snow piled up after a 150 km/h bora plummeted the temperature to −14 °C, the bora ripped the trees from the soil and destroyed roofs of houses. On the island of Pag, the bora threw fish out of the sea, in many Croatian coastal cities, fresh water froze inside the pipes. Because the region separates the lower Adriatic coast from the Julian Alps range and they have influenced the regions traditional lifestyle and architecture. Towns on the coast, where the bora frequently occurs, are built densely with narrow streets in part because of the wind, buildings in several towns and villages in Slovenia and the Province of Trieste have stones on their roofs to prevent the tiles from being blown off. A strong bora will often be reported on Italian television news, Slovenian towns where the strongest bora occurs are Ajdovščina, Vipava and, to a lesser extent, Nova Gorica

20.
Split-Dalmatia County
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Split-Dalmatia County is the central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The population of the county is 455,242, the land area is 4540 km2. Physically, the county is divided into three parts, an elevated hinterland with numerous karst fields, a narrow coastal strip with high population density. Parts of the Dinaric Alps, including Dinara itself, form the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina while the Kozjak, Mosor, the most important economic activity is tourism. Manufacturing and agriculture are in decline, the county is linked to the rest of Croatia by the newly built four-lane Split-Zadar-Karlovac-Zagreb highway and the Lika railway. Split-Kaštela international airport is used mostly by tourist charter flights in the summer, there is also a smaller paved airfield on the island of Brač. In the hinterland, the towns are Sinj, Imotski. Besides the largest city, Split, the towns on the coast are Trogir, Omiš, on the islands, the populations are smaller due to high levels of emigration, but are still mostly urban in character. The main townships are, Supetar on the island of Brač, Hvar town and Stari Grad on Hvar, according to the 2011 census, Split-Dalmatia County has population of 454,798. Croats make up a majority with 97. 08% of the population. The name Dalmatia comes from an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae who inhabited the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in the 1st millennium BC. It was part of the Illyrian kingdom from the 4th century BC until the Illyrian Wars in the 220s BC and 168 BC when the Roman Republic established its protectorate south of the river Neretva. Dalmatia as a name was in use probably from the second half of the 2nd century BC for the area spanning the eastern Adriatic coast between the Krka and Neretva rivers. It was slowly incorporated into Roman possessions until the province of Illyricum was formally established c, Dalmatia became part of the Roman province of Illyricum

21.
Hvar (city)
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Hvar is a city and port on the island of Hvar, part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The municipality has a population of 4,251 while the city itself is inhabited by 3,771 people and it is situated on a bay in the south coast of the island, opposite from the other nearby towns of Stari Grad and Jelsa. The city of Hvar has a long and distinguished history as center for trade, an independent commune within the Venetian Empire during the 13th to 18th centuries, it was an important naval base with a strong fortress above, encircling town walls and protected port. Cultural life thrived as prosperity grew, and Hvar is the site of one of the oldest surviving theatres in Europe, the seven-hundred-year-old walls still survive, as do many of the noble houses and public buildings from 15th - 17th centuries. By the 19th century, the port of Hvar was no longer a base, and The Hygienic Society of Hvar took the economy of the city. As one of the earliest tourist boards in Europe, it was founded in 1868 with the purpose of providing care for visitors. The port of Hvar, set in a natural bay. The city is a port of call for yachts sailing around the Adriatic. There are regular ferry services from the port between Hvar and Split, Brač, Korčula, Lastovo, and Vis. The municipality of Hvar covers 7,535 ha, including the town itself, the old settlements of Malo Grablje and Zaraće are no longer inhabited. Population figures from the 2011 Census, the town is located in a small bay on the south coast of the island of Hvar, towards the western end. The surrounding land is karst hillside, rising steeply from the Adriatic Sea, the rocks in the area are porous, mainly limestone and dolomite, so ground water is scarce. However, there is agriculture where the terrain is sufficiently accessible, and can be irrigated, such as olive groves, vineyards, lavender. The mountain range stretches the length of the island acts as an effective barrier between Hvar town and the settlements to the north. In centuries past, it would have several hours to walk overland. The modern Stari Grad to Hvar road, with its new tunnel which was opened in the year 2000, now provides quick, the coastline is mostly steep and indented, with small gravel beaches in the bays. The Pakleni Otoci and the island of Galešnik at the entrance to the port of Hvar are protected landscape areas, Hvar town enjoys a sunny Mediterranean climate, typical of the southern Adriatic, with mild wet winters and hot dry summers. During June to September, the temperature is higher than 20 °C

22.
Imotski
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Imotski is a small town situated on the northern side of Biokovo massif, Dalmatian Hinterland, Croatia. As of 2011, the population is 4,757. Imotski has a mild and pleasant climate with many sunny days. The town is located close to the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, by the towns of Posušje, the nearest coastal town is Makarska. Imotski is known for its fortress on the rocks of Blue Lake. Another phenomenon is the Red Lake which looks like an eye in the scenery, both lakes are said to be connected with underground channels to the Adriatic Sea. The town was first mentioned as Imotski in the 10th century and it was held by the Turks from the fall of Bosnia in 1492 until 1717 when it was captured by the Venetians. Unlike other towns in the area, Imotski had a system which consisted of primary and secondary schools from as early as the beginning of the 20th century. The secondary school was founded in 1912 when Imotski was part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austro-Hungarian empire, from 1941 to 1945 Imotski was part of the Independent State of Croatia. In April 1944, German forces shot down three American B-24s, the local population saved as many of the American personnel as they could. In 2008, the city decided to raise a memorial to the deceased airmen, one airman/paratrooper, Marion Dropulich who crashed near Imotski, but survived and was taken by Italian Soldiers happened to have been a Croatian American with immediate Imotski ancestry. Marijan Dropuljici grand daughter Doreena Dropulich Tompkins Authored a book The Day I Found Our Family In Croatia in October 2015, the story tells of the journey to find the Dropuljic family in Croatia/Imotski. Http, //www. amazon. com/The-Day-Found-Family-Croatia/dp/1515231372 The climate is Mediterranean, with the highest air temperature averaging 26 °C during July, summers are usually very hot during the day. Temperatures above 10 °C last for more than 240 days a year, two kinds of wind are common in the area - the northern to north-eastern bura which usually brings cold and clear weather in winter and the southern to south-eastern jugo which often brings rain. One of the settlements most famous sons is Zvonimir Boban, the captain of the Croatian national football team, Žarko Domljan, the first Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, was born in Imotski. The famous poet Tin Ujević spent part of his childhood in Imotski, politician, poet and Croatian dissident Vlado Gotovac was born and spent his early years in Imotski. The city itself is home to Croatian league football club NK Imotski, there are other individuals born in Imotski to have made their names known outside of the local region. In the world of entertainment, there is the singer Neda Ukraden, sports stars include female tennis player Silvija Talaja and footballers Tomislav Bušić and Ivan Gudelj

23.
Makarska
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Makarska is a small city on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about 60 km southeast of Split and 140 km northwest of Dubrovnik. It has a population of 13,834 residents, administratively Makarska has the status of a city and it is part of the Split-Dalmatia County. Makarska is a tourist centre, located on a horseshoe shaped bay between the Biokovo mountains and the Adriatic Sea, the city is noted for its palm-fringed promenade, where cafes, bars and boutiques overlook the harbour. Adjacent to the beach are several large capacity hotels as well as a camping ground, Makarska is the center of the Makarska Riviera, a popular tourist destination under the Biokovo mountain. It stretches for 60 km between the towns of Brela and Gradac, Makarska experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Winters are warm and wet, while Summers are hot and dry, Makarska is one of the warmest cities in Croatia. Vegetation is of the evergreen Mediterranean type, and subtropical flora grow in the city, near present-day Makarska, there was a settlement as early as the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. It is thought that it was a point used by the Cretans on their way up to the Adriatic, however it was only one of the ports with links with the wider Mediterranean, as shown by a copper tablet with Cretan and Egyptian systems of measurement. A similar tablet was found in the Egyptian pyramids, in the Illyrian era this region was part of the broader alliance of tribes, led by the Ardaeans, founded in the third century BC in the Cetina area down to the River Vjosë in present-day Albania. Although the Romans became rulers of the Adriatic by defeating the Ardiaei in 228, the Romans sent their veteran soldiers to settle in Makarska. After the division of the Empire in 395, this part of the Adriatic became part of the Eastern Roman Empire and it appears on the acts of the Salonan Synod of 4 May 533 AD held in Salona, when also the towns diocese was created. During the Migration Period, in 548, Muccurum was destroyed by the army of the Ostrogoth king Totila, the byzantine Emperor expelled the Eastern Goths. In the 7th century the region between the Cetina and Neretva was occupied by the Narentines, with Mokro, located in todays Makarska, the principality was annexed to the Kingdom of Croatia in the 12th century, and was conquered by the Republic of Venice a century later. Making use of the rivalry between the Croatian leaders and their struggles, the Bosnian Ban Stjepan II Kotromanić annexed the Makarska coastal area. There were many changes of rulers here, from the Croatian and Bosnian feudal lords, in the eventful 15th century the Ottomans conquered the Balkans. In order to protect his territory from the Turks, Duke Stjepan Vukčić Kosača handed the region to the Venetians in 1452, the Makarska coastal area fell to the Turks in 1499. Under the Ottoman rule, the city was surrounded with walls that had three towers, the name Makarska was cited for the first time in a 1502 document telling how nuns from Makarska were permitted to repair their church. The Turks had links with all parts of the Adriatic via Makarska, in 1568 they built a fortress as defence against the Venetians

24.
Sinj
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Sinj is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, Sinj is the center of an area known as Cetinska krajina, a group of settlements situated on a fertile karstic field through which the river Cetina passes. Sinj lies between four mountains, Svilaja, Dinara, Kamešnica and Visoka and those mountains give Sinj its specific submediterranean climate. Sinj was seized by the Turks in 1524 who maintained control until 1686, the town grew around an ancient fortress held by the Ottomans from 16th until the end of 17th century, and the Franciscan monastery with the church of Our Lady of Sinj, a place of pilgrimage. The last Turkish siege in 1715 was repulsed, after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy, head of the district of the same name, one of the 13 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Kingdom of Dalmatia. The Italian name alone was used before 1867, Sinj and Cetinska Krajina represent an interesting tourist area, and the major attraction is certainly the traditional Tilters Tournament of Sinj. It takes place every year on the first Sunday in August to commemorate the victory over the Turkish army in 1715. The tilters, dressed in the costumes, ride on horseback in full gallop, trying to thrust a small ring, hanging from a wire. The tilter who scores the highest number of points is declared the victor, the Museum of the Cetinska Krajina Region is in Sinj

25.
Solin
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Solin is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea, Solin developed on the location of ancient city of Salona which was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and the birthplace of Emperor Diocletian. After the arrival of Avars and Croats in the 7th-century town was destroyed, in the Early Middle Ages Solin was part of the Croatian territory and played an important role in Medieval Croatian state, being one of the political centres. In the 20th century intensive industrialisation process of the Split basin made Solin no more than a suburb of Split, today, with its independent municipal status, Solin is part of the Split conurbation, well connected with other towns. Besides industry, a tourism is being developed based on numerous archaeological sites. Solin is situated north of the Split peninsula, in a surrounded by mountains Kozjak to the north. The city covers an area of 18 km2, situated in the part of the Split conurbation,8 km north of Split,6 km east of Kaštela,22 km east of Trogir and 4 km south of Klis. Residential and business parts of the city are located in the part of the rivers flow. The ruins of the ancient Salona are located in the middle, the climate is Mediterranean, with mild winters and hot summers. During the winter, a strong north-eastern wind Bura occurs frequently, in the late ancient times, Salonas importance was great both politically and religiously. Salona was an early Roman settlement, which became overshadowed when Emperor Diocletian constructed the nearby Diocletians Palace in about the year 300 AD. Surviving local residents of Salona, after the Avars retreated from those regions, to a settlement Spalatum, todays, christianity in Salona probably originated during the time of the apostles. The Apostle Paul mentions that his pupil Apostle Titus traveled to Dalmatia so the assumption that he worked in Dalmatias capital city of Salona and that city, located on the Adriatic coast, with excellent sea connections with Italy and the Middle East, attracted Christian messengers of faith. Salona had a well-organized Christian community with a bishop as leader ever since the middle of the 3rd century and that means that at that time they held primary positions in western Illyria. Siscias bishop from the region Pannonia joined the Dalmatian bishops on the held in Salona in the years 530 and 533 as a member with full rights. At the time of Diocletian, Salona had a population of 60,000, in 639 Salona was destroyed by the Croats. After the fall of Salona and the region under the Avarian rule. Namely, Pope John IV ordered transportation of parts of their relics, the images of those saints, which had been created in mosaic by the Popes wish, can be found today in the apside of the chapel

26.
Stari Grad, Croatia
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Stari Grad is a town on the northern side of the island of Hvar in Dalmatia, Croatia. One of the oldest towns in Europe, its position at the end of a long, protected bay, Stari Grad is also a municipality within the Split-Dalmatia County. The most ancient part of Stari Grad falls within the UNESCO Protected World Heritage Site of the Stari Grad Plain, Stari Grad was originally named Faros by the Greek settlers from the island of Paros, who arrived in 384 BC. It is thought that the name may come from the inhabitants of the area. 10,000 Liburnians sailed out from their capital Idassa, led by the Iadasinoi, the Syracusan fleet positioned in Issa was informed in time, and Greek triremes attacked the siege fleet, taking victory in the end. According to Diodorus, the Greeks killed more than 5,000 and captured 2,000 prisoners, ran down or captured their ships, in Roman times, the town became known as Faria, which was turned into Hvar by the incoming Slav population. When the administrative capital of the island was moved to todays Hvar town on the south coast, the district of Stari Grad has a population of 2,817, of which 1,906 live in the town itself. Four other settlements fall within the Stari Grad district, namely Dol, Rudina, Selca, the islands best agricultural land opens up to the east of Stari Grad town. This fertile plain has been farmed since pre-historic times, and the Greek field layout is largely intact. In 2008, the Stari Grad Plain became a UNESCO protected world heritage site, remains of their pottery and other artifacts have been found, along with that of the Illyrian tribe that succeeded them. The settlement lay at the end of Stari Grad Bay. In 384 BC, the town was founded by ancient Greeks from the island of Paros in the Aegean Sea. They gave the name Faros to their new settlement, an independent state permitted to mint its own money, the nearby plain was marked out with roads at right angles, and divided into fields of standard size. The Stari Grad Plain today represents one of the examples of ancient Greek agriculture throughout the Mediterranean. In 218 BC, the Romans defeated the Illyrian army at Pharos during the Second Illyrian War, and the town was destroyed by the Roman army, the town came under permanent Roman control by force in 168 BC, following the defeat of Gentius during the Third Illyrian War. An inscription from the 2nd century BC, refers to the Farians and their delegation to the Greek island of Paros and it makes mention of the Roman senate and the people well disposed and benevolent towards the city of Faros from the times of their ancestors. Further inscriptions, mosaics, tombstones, stone reliefs, fine pottery, jewellery, coins, villae rusticae in the Plain tell the story of life in and around the ancient Roman town. The first church was built in the 5th century, in the southeast corner of the town, close to the city walls, on the foundations of a prior Greek house

27.
Supetar
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Supetar is a town and a city on the northern side of the Dalmatian island of Brač, in the Split-Dalmatia County, in Croatia. It became the official centre in 1827. The City of Supetar includes the town Supetar and the three villages Splitska, Škrip and Mirca, with a population of 3,326, it is the islands largest and fastest-expanding town with dozens of apartments being built every year. It is accessible by ferry or via Brač Airport which is located 30 kilometres to the Southeast, the official language is Croatian, however many inhabitants also speak English, Italian or German. Old Supetar was situated on the peninsula where there is now a graveyard. The settlement came to an end during the early Christian era, in the late Middle Ages a new settlement started around the bay known as St. Peters, from which the town derives its name. It originated from the Latin S. v Petar during the Latin population of the town, sv stands for Sveti, meaning saint, therefore it takes its name from Saint Peter, which is the names English equivalent translation. The present settlement of Supetar was founded in the 16th century when people living in Nerežišča, about 8 kilometres inland, the towns main period of development occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries when Supetar took over from Nerežišča as the administrative centre of the island of Brač. The Parish church of St. Peter stands on the side of an old chapel which was restored in 1773 in a Baroque architectural style, at that time it also received a new aisle and bell tower. In the church there are paintings by the local artist Feliks Tironi from the half of the 18th century. In the old part of the church there are some gravestones with Croatian inscriptions, on the left of the church building there is a sundial and beneath it a sarcophagus with the date 1774 engraved. In the Sunday school classrooms there are paintings from the Venetian era, the well, decorated with reliefs, is the work of Johannes Mazzonius from 1734. Supetar graveyard beside the Chapel St. Supetar Tourist Board Supetar at Geonames. com Supetar-Brač Online

28.
Trilj
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Trilj is a municipality and town in inland Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located southeast of Sinj and northeast of Split, the total population of the municipality is 9,109, with 2,076 in Trilj itself and the rest in small villages. The list of settlements is as follows, In the area of Trilj there are archaeological findings dating way back to Mesolithic. The first ethnic group that inhabited this area are the Illyrian tribe Delmati, Delmati people lived in a hill forts along the communication lines that connected their capital Delminium with Adriatic coast. Hundred and fifty years of fighting against the Romans ended in defeat of Delmati people. At the top of the hill of Gardun, just 1 km south of Trilj, Tilurium guarded the entrance to the Cetina valley from the south and the approach to the provincial capital at Salona. Čačvina Castle is a fortification that guarded approach from Bosnia during the wars with the Ottomans, the first written record of this fortification dates to 1345. First written record of fortification dates to 1345, nutjak fortification is situated at the entrance of the Cetina river canyon, on a cliff. Fortress was built in the 15th century by nobleman Žarko Dražojević to protect land west of Cetina river from Ottoman invasion, the village of Košute in the municipality is home to a monument to its war dead from the Second World War and the Croatian War of Independence. Museum was found in 1996 for the purpose of presentation of artifacts from nearby archaeological site, along with archaeological artifacts in a part of the museum ethnographic collection from Trilj and surrounding area is presented. Trilj and surrounding area are popular tourist area, becoming popular on annual basis. The area has history and offers great opportunities for outdoor activities. Surrounding is dominated, on one side by Cetina river that is diverse with white waters and calm parts. Some of the activities include Cetina river fishing, canoeing, rafting, Canyoning, Trilj - Portal of Town Trilj Town Trilj

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Trogir
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Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,818 and a total municipality population of 13,260. The historic city of Trogir is situated on an island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo. It lies 27 kilometres west of the city of Split, since 1997, the historic centre of Trogir has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites for its Venetian architecture. The name comes from the Greek tragos, similarly, the name of the neighbouring island of Bua comes from the Greek voua. The sudden prosperity of Salona deprived Trogir of its importance, during the migration of Croats the citizens of the destroyed Salona escaped to Trogir. Initially the Roman Tragurium was one of the Dalmatian City-States, from the 9th century on, Trogir paid tribute to Croatian rulers and to the Byzantine empire. The diocese of Trogir was established in the 11th century and in 1107 it was chartered by the Hungarian-Croatian king Coloman, in 1123 Trogir was conquered and almost completely demolished by the Saracens. However, Trogir recovered in a period to experience powerful economic prosperity in the 12th. In 1242 King Béla IV of Hungary found refuge there as he fled the Mongols, in Dalmatian, the city was known as Tragur. On the fall of Venice in 1797, Trogir became a part of the Habsburg Empire, after World War I, Trogir, together with Croatia, became a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and subsequently, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During this period Italian citizens, who until 1918 were the ruling class, during World War II, Trogir was annexed by Italy and was part of the Italian Governorate of Dalmatia. Subsequently, Titos partizans occupied it in 1944, since then it belonged to the second Yugoslavia, and from 1991 to Croatia. Trogir has 2300 years of continuous urban tradition and its culture was created under the influence of the ancient Greeks, and then the Romans, and Venetians. Trogir has a concentration of palaces, churches, and towers, as well as a fortress on a small island. The orthogonal street plan of this settlement dates back to the Hellenistic period and it was embellished by successive rulers with many fine public and domestic buildings. Its beautiful Romanesque churches are complemented by the outstanding Renaissance and Baroque buildings from the Venetian period, Trogir is the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex not only in the Adriatic, but in all of Central Europe. Trogirs medieval core, surrounded by walls, comprises a preserved castle and tower, trogirs grandest building is the church of St. Lawrence, whose main west portal is a masterpiece by Radovan, and the most significant work of the Romanesque-Gothic style in Croatia. It is one of the fastest growing ports for sail-tourism in Croatia, there is also a strong fishing and agriculture tradition among the population in surrounding areas

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Vis (town)
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Vis is a town on the eponymous island in the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia. It has a population of 1,934 residents, the town is also the seat of the eponymous Vis municipality, one of the two municipalities on the island which both administratively belong to the Split-Dalmatia County. Vis was established in the 4th century BC as the Greek polis of Issa, dionysius the Elder, the contemporary tyrant of Syracuse, founded the colony in order to control shipping in the Adriatic Sea. Ancient Issa developed as the urban and economic center of the Dalmatian coasts, the city established several colonies, such as Aspálathos, modern-day Split, and others such as Epidauros, and Tragurion. Issa functioned as an independent polis until the 1st century BCE, after the Roman conquest Issa lost its significance until the late Middle Ages when it was mentioned in several historical sources. The town of Vis is located in a large and protected bay on the north-east side of the island facing the island of Hvar. The port of Vis is located in the south-west part of the bay, the port is protected from open sea influence by the islet of Host and the peninsula called Prirovo. Other ports are smaller and located in Kut. and Stonca, Vis is isolated from its fields thanks to 250–300 m high hills which are important for the local citizens as the main source of incomes from viticulture. These bays and villages are, besides the town of Vis itself, Vis experiences warm and temperate winters with warm to hot summers with the landward breeze making it the most moderate climate in the Republic of Croatia. The climate allows for Tropical and Mediterranean vegetation, including palms, carobs, olives, grapes, the average rainfall is about 750 mm per square meter. The island of Vis has a number of sources of drinking water from the natural spring water reservoirs. The island is home to twelve distinct types of island vegetation. Vis has been marked as one of the ten most environmentally preserved islands in the Mediterranean by the World Organization for Environmental Protection, formal area of town of Vis is whole eastern part of the island. Western part of the island is under the authority of Komiža, area of Vis embraces eight villages, Dračevo Polje, Marine Zemlje, Milna, Plisko Polje, Podselje, Podstražje, Rogačić and Rukavac. Ascendancy is currently held by HDZ - HSP coalition in alliance with the Independent list, until the middle of the twentieth century the main sources of income were vineyards and wine production. Recently more and more work in tourism. The town is famous for its greenery of palms, the only example on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Construction began on the land donated by Frano de Pelegrinis at the beginning of the 16th century

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Vrlika
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Vrlika is a small town and municipality in inland Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The closest large towns are Sinj, Knin, and Drniš, Vrlika was given the status of city in 1997. Vrlika is located in the Cetinska Krajina region in Split-Dalmatia County and it is 40 km northwest of the town of Sinj on the State route D1 between the towns of Sinj and Knin and on the regional route which connects Vrlika with Drniš. The oldest evidence for life in this region is from 30,000 BC. During the Bronze Age, between 1900-1600 BC, there was the so-called Cetina culture on the territory of Vrlika Municipality, archaeologists have found ancient graves, a Bronze Age sword and other smaller stuff dating back to that period. These findings made it clear that in the past this land was densely populated, prior to the arrival of the Romans, the Illyrian tribe of Dalmatae are said to have inhabited the region. After multiple wars, lasting for as long as 250 years, the history of the town begins in the 7th century when the Croats moved there and formed a village on the spring of the river Cetina, in a field below the mountain Dinara. In the 9th century probably during the time of Duke Branimir of Croatia, spasa was built near Vrlika, then called Vrh Rike. Church was built by old Croatian Gostiha of Cetina Cetinski župan Gastika in memory of his mother, of the five old Croatian counties that were located in the area of the current Split-Dalmatia County, Cetinska County was the largest. In the year 1406 King Ladislaus of Naples gives Prozor Fortress, at that time Castrum Werhlychky as a center of Vrlička župa, during the medieval period Vrlika, along with the rest of the Balkans, experienced invasion and subsequent occupation by the Ottoman Empire. During the Ottoman rule the population of Vrlika was forced to convert to Islam or leave. Many of the settlers from Vrlika left for the island Olib in the Adriatic Sea off the Croatian coast. In the late 17th century, the town was liberated from the Ottomans by the Republic of Venice as a result of the Morean War, locally, the uprising against the Ottomans was led by Croatian priest Father Josip Bogić. During French rule, Vrlika became a municipality in the Šibenik district, franz Joseph I of Austria visited Vrlika in 1875 and noted impressions in his diary. The town was occupied by the so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina on August 26,1991, soon after, the non-Serb population was expelled from the area. The Serbs had deliberately attacked medical facilities, including the centre for retarded children who had remained for months without water. After difficult negotiations, they had finally been transported to Split, as part of Operation Storm, Vrlika was liberated by the Croatian Army on August 6,1995 where soon after, the remaining Serb population fled the area. According to 2011 census, the town of Vrlika has a population of 828, Vrlika also has a folklore ensemble KUD Milan Begović

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Bol, Croatia
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Bol is a town on the south of the island of Brač in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia, population 1,661. Bol is renowned for its most popular beach, the Zlatni Rat and it is a promontory composed mostly of pebble rock that visibly shifts with the tidal movement. The Adriatic Sea water at Zlatni Rat is clear and somewhat cold, there is a beach on either side of the horn. Bol itself is a popular tourist destination, known for its bars and restaurants. The Dominican church in Bol contains a number of paintings by Tripo Kokolja, Bol is twinned with, Omiš, Croatia Croatian Bol Ladies Open Bol, Croatia travel guide from Wikivoyage

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Brela
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Brela is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia, population 1,771. The municipality consists of two villages, Brela and Gornja Brela, village Brela is located on the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia, about 15 km northwest of Makarska. Brela is a tourist town located between the Biokovo mountain and the Adriatic Sea and it is known as the pearl of Makarska riviera. The pearl of Adriatic or the pearl of Mediterranean is the given to the city of Dubrovnik. In 1968 Brela was crowned as Champion of Adriatic for high achievements in tourist activity, the symbol of Brela is Kamen Brela, a small rock island just off the main beach in Brela, the Punta Rata beach. In 2004, American magazine Forbes put the Punta Rata beach on the list of 10 worlds most beautiful beaches, media related to Brela at Wikimedia Commons Brela Tourist Board Hotels in Brela

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Gradac, Split-Dalmatia County
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Gradac, Italian, Labinezza, is the southernmost tourist locality of the Makarska riviera in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, located between Makarska and Ploče. It is about 42 kilometers from Makarska, situated halfway between Split and Dubrovnik, the town of Gradac is a center of a municipality which consists of the places, Brist, Drvenik, Gradac, Podaca and Zaostrog and marks the end of the riviera. The Gradac area was inhabited even in prehistoric times, evidence of this are the numerous stone piles dating back to the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. At the locality of Gradina a cornice fragment of the building from the 2nd-3rd century was found. Near the Laguna hotel were found many tombs, hence it is thought that on this there was once a Roman necropolis. Under its present name, Gradac was mentioned for the first time in 1649 and it was named after the stronghold that was situated on the elevation above the present-day church of St. Michael, and which was built probably during the Cretan War as a defence against the Turks. The remnants of the old tower from the 16th century are still to be found in the hamlet of Čista above Gradac. Surrounding it are still the remnants of rows of abandoned houses with typical features of the region. One of the oldest existing edifices in the territory of Gradac is the chapel of St. Pasquale on the Mt. Plana, with a barrel shaped vault, and a saddle roof. Next to the old church of St. Antonio there is a local cemetery and the new parish church of St. Michael built in 1852, precisely in the zone of Gradina. In the church, there are three altars with statues. The most interesting among them is the old statue of St. Rocco. In the church there is also the old baptismal stone font, Gradac is very well known for it antifascist and partisan history. It was destroyed in an act of vandalism by one Croatian brigade at the beginning of the war, biokovo Baćina lakes Weather forecast for Gradac at AccuWeather. com

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Jelsa, Croatia
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Jelsa is a town in Croatia, on the island of Hvar, the seat of the eponymous municipality within the county of Split-Dalmatia. The municipality of Jelsa covers an area of 121.2 km2 from the north coast to the south coast of Hvar, the town of Jelsa is situated in a bay on the middle of the north coast of the island of Hvar. To the south of the town are dense pine woods on the hills of the islands ridge. Jelsa is the place on the island with an abundance of fresh water. The agricultural plain lying to the west of Jelsa is the UNESCO protected world heritage site Starigrad Plain, the old town of Jelsa was mentioned in the Statute of Hvar in 1331. Although the exact location and extent of the ancient Jelsa are not well understood, material remains from the Roman period prove the existence of a settlement in the area of Jelsa. Several villas are preserved in the area of Kutac, round St. Rock, on the mountain spur overlooking Jelsa to the south, is the massive fortress of Tor, which was a Greek observation point, standing on an older Illyrian fort. The location is a defensive position as it overlooks the islands of Hvar and Brač as far as Šolta. Demetrius of Hvar reigned here for ten years until the Roman occupation. Slightly further eastwards, the fortress of Grad stands on a cliff above the ancient road leading to the eastern end of the island. Originally Illyrian, the fort was developed in Roman times. Its present name is believed to derive from the nobleman Galeša Slavogosti, the present town of Jelsa was founded as a port for the village of Pitve in the 14th century. The 1424 Statute of Hvar mentions it as being 3 km from the sea, under the hill of Gozd, in the quest for sea and fishing, the first houses were built around the church of Sv. Mihović at Mala Banda on the side of the bay. A further group of houses developed on the shore, around the church of Sv. From fishing and agriculture, Jelsa developed into a shipbuilding and maritime centre, the town prospered, and became the administrative capital for the central municipality of the island of Hvar. The port and break-waters were begun around 1830, after which the reclamation of marshy land started, on the seafront next to the town, the town council building and town hall were built. Founded as the port for the community of Pitve, Jelsa grew in importance over the centuries, the wine industry was nearly destroyed by phylloxera in the latter half of the 19th century

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Marina, Split-Dalmatia County
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Marina is a town and municipality in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. It has a population of 4,595,97. 6% of whom are Croats, marina is located on the Adriatic Highway. It is a tourist village with a sandy beach shaded by olive, tourist also enjoy the atmosphere of ancient Dalmatian wine cellars, fresh fish and quality local wines, a blend of the ancient and the modern. Yachting, diving and fishing are practiced, small yachts may dock within the small harbour and larger ones at the end of the bay, southeast of the chapel and south of the Plokata hill. The settlement was planned in the 16th century, in the period 1495-1500 the bishops of Trogir built a quadrangular tower on the islet in the bay. The channel between the mainland and the tower was filled up and levelled at the beginning of the 20th century, the structure was repaired during the Cretan war in 1657 and 1717 and reconstructed in 1971 to 1972. The church of St John has Gothic and Renaissance elements, in a field close to the village there is a small Gothic church of St. Luke with the coat of arms of the Sobota family

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Podgora, Split-Dalmatia County
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Podgora is a small town in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia. It is located on the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia, the town has a population of 1,500 while the municipality of Podgora has a population of about 3,000. Podgora has a largely tourism-based economy, with its five hotels, it has four times as many beds as inhabitants. It is located 65 km south of Split and 135 km north of Dubrovnik and this little fishing village is first mentioned in the 19th century as the birthplace of Don Mihovil Pavlinović, a priest, politician and writer. He was also the first person to speak Croatian in the Dalmatian parliament, organized tourism started in Podgora in 1922, when the first hotel Praha was built. During World War II, on September 101942, the Yugoslav Partisans formed the Partisan Navy in Podgora. In 1962 Josip Broz Tito unveiled a monument on a small hill above the port of Podgora, The wings of a seagull

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Postira
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Postira is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County on the island of Brač. The village of Postira is located on the northern coast of the island of Brač and it is connected with nearby villages Pučišća, Splitska and Dol as well as with the city of Supetar with paved road, where local bus lines operate. The municipality has a population of 1,559 in two settlements, Dol, population 139 Postira, population 1,429 In the 2011 census,98. 5% of the population were Croats. Postira was first mentioned in the 14th century and it is assumed that its name come from the Latin pastura. Several stone buildings and palaces speak of the rich merchant history of the village and they were built using the special Brac stone from the surrounding quarries. The main activities are fishing, agriculture, and tourism, home products are olive oil and local wine. Sardina d. d. company can fish producer from the high quality Adriatic pilchard Sardina pilchardus, next to the harbour are the beaches of Prvija and Zastivanje. Beach Mala Lozna is on the east end of Postira village and far more to the east, is the very attractive sand beach, near Lovrečina beach are the ruins of a large early Christian basilica from the 5th-6th century. There are hotels Pastura, Vrilo and Lipa in the village, near the port is supermarket Studenac, bakery, bank, post and market. There are also restaurants and tourist information center. In the center of the village is the Church of John the Baptist, Postira ex Kolektivac is local football club

Klis Fortress
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The Klis Fortress is a medieval fortress situated above a village bearing the same name, near the city of Split, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. Since Duke Mislav of the Duchy of Croatia made Klis Fortress the seat of his throne in the middle of the 9th century, the fortress served as the seat of many Croatias rulers. The reign of his successor, Duke

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Klis Fortress built into the south face of a rocky mass, barely discernible as a man-made structure, seen from the state route D1.

Croatian language
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It is the official and literary standard of Croatia and one of the official languages of the European Union. Croatian is also one of the languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a recognized minority language in Serbia. Croatian is written in Gajs Latin alphabet, besides the Shtokavian dialect, on which Standard Croatian is based, there are two other m

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Features

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Traditional extent of Serbo-Croatian dialects in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers

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Dante Alighieri (above) and Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of Italy in the Late Middle Ages

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The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.

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Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage

Turkish language
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Outside of Turkey, significant smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union add Turkish as an official EU language, in 1928, as one of Atatürks Reforms in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the

Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands.

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Branimir Inscription

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Flag

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Tanais Tablet B, name Khoroáthos highlighted

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The walls of Dubrovnik helped to defend the city since Middle Ages until the 1991–1992 siege.

Dalmatia
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Dalmatia is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea. The hinterland ranges in width from fifty kilometres in the north, to just a few kilometres in the south,79 islands run parallel to the coast, the largest being Brač, Pag and Hvar. The

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The ancient core of the city of Split, the largest city in Dalmatia, built in and around the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian.

Solin, Croatia
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Solin is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea, Solin developed on the location of ancient city of Salona which was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and the birthplace of Emperor Diocletian. After the arrival of Avars and Croats in the 7th-century town was destroyed, in the Early Midd

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Solin

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Ruins of the amphitheater of Solin

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View of the Split conurbation (with Solin in the foreground) from Klis

Split, Croatia
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Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a peninsula and its surroundings, Splits greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tou

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Nighttime view of Split from Mosor; Cathedral of Saint Domnius; City center of Split; View on the city from Marjan; Night in Poljicka Street; Riva waterfront

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Flag

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Reconstruction of the Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in its original appearance upon completion in 305 CE, by Ernest Hébrard

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The modern-day center of Split with Diocletian 's Palace in 2012. Visible also are the medieval Varoš district and the Giardin Park.

Mountain pass
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A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass, the highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world appears to be Mana Pass, located in the Himalayas on the border between India and China. Mountain passes make use of a gap, saddle or col, a topographic saddle is analogous to the ma

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The saddle between Mount Washington and Mount Clay in New Hampshire, USA; the mountain pass crosses left-right in the photo.

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Idealized mountain pass represented as the green line; the saddle point is in red.

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Agua Negra Pass (Argentina/Chile).

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Pass in Tatras (Ornak, Poland).

Mosor
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Mosor, or Mount Mosor, is a mountain range in Croatia located near the city of Split on the Adriatic coast. It belongs to Dinaric Alps, and it stretches from the pass of Klis in the northwest to the Cetina River in the southeast, the highest peak is the eponymous Mosor peak at 1,339 m. a. s. l. There are no inhabited areas on the mountain above 600

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Mosor, viewed from the Brač Channel, with Split in the foreground.

Mali Kozjak
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Kozjak, also known as Mali Kozjak or Primorski Kozjak is a mountain located above the town of Kaštela in Dalmatia, Croatia. It belongs to Dinaric Alps, and it stretches from the pass of Klis in the southeast, the highest peak is Veli vrj above Kaštel Gomilica. Its southern slope is steep, and northern rock slopes gradually turns to the corrugate pl

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Kozjak from Salona.

Split (city)
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Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a peninsula and its surroundings, Splits greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tou

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Nighttime view of Split from Mosor; Cathedral of Saint Domnius; City center of Split; View on the city from Marjan; Night in Poljicka Street; Riva waterfront

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Reconstruction of the Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in its original appearance upon completion in 305 CE, by Ernest Hébrard

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The modern-day center of Split with Diocletian 's Palace in 2012. Visible also are the medieval Varoš district and the Giardin Park.

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The city's seaward walls in 1764, an engraving by Robert Adam.

Ottoman wars in Europe
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The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars in the 13th century, followed by the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars and the Serbian–Ottoman Wars in the 14th century. Much of this period was characterized by Ottoman expansion into the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire made further inroads into Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminat

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Conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1453

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Albanian assault on a Turkish encampment in 1457

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Croatian captain Petar Kružić led the defense of the Klis Fortress against a Turkish invasion and siege that lasted for more than two and a half decades. During this defense, an elite Croatian military faction of Uskoci was formed.

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Ottoman advances resulted in some of the captive Christians being carried deep into Turkish territory

Fortress
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very ea

Sanjak of Klis
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The Sanjak of Klis was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire which seat was in the Fortress of Klis in Klis till capture by Republic of Venice in 1648, laterly in Livno between 1648-1699. The Sanjak of Klis was established on 12 March 1537, after Ottoman victory in the Siege of Klis, Klis was stronghold of Uskoks and thorn in both Venetian and Ottoman sid

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Coat of arms

Eyalet of Bosnia
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The Eyalet of Bosnia or Bosnia Beylerbeylik was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to the Great Turkish War, it had included most of Slavonia, Lika. Its reported area in the 19th century was 20,281 square miles, after the execution of King Stephen Tomašević in 146

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Husein Gradaščević was declared the governor of the Eyalet of Bosnia in 1831 and revolted against the Ottomans in a bid to secure Bosnian independence.

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Flag

Venetian Republic
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It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice. It was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages, the Venetian city state was founded as a safe haven for people escaping persecution in mainland Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In its early years, it prospered on the salt tra

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Sack of Constantinople

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Flag

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Voyage of Marco Polo into the Far East during the Pax Mongolica

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The Piraeus Lion in Venice - a spoil from Constantinople

Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following

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Franz Joseph I. (1885)

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Civil Ensign

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Austrian Parliament Building

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Hungarian Parliament Building

Bura wind
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The Bora is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Poland, Russia and Turkey. The same root is found in the name of the Greek mythological figure of Boreas/Βορέας, historical linguists speculate that the name may derive from a Proto-Indo-European root *

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Hurricane-strength bora in Nin, Croatia

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Bora on Molo Audace in Trieste, February 2011

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Winter bora in Senj.

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The bora on the Karst Plateau, depicted in Valvasor 's The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, 17th century

Split-Dalmatia County
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Split-Dalmatia County is the central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The population of the county is 455,242, the land area is 4540 km2. Physically, the county is divided into three parts, an elevated hinterland with numerous karst fields, a narrow coastal strip with high population density. Parts of the Dinaric Alps, including Dinara itself,

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Flag

Hvar (city)
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Hvar is a city and port on the island of Hvar, part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The municipality has a population of 4,251 while the city itself is inhabited by 3,771 people and it is situated on a bay in the south coast of the island, opposite from the other nearby towns of Stari Grad and Jelsa. The city of Hvar has a long and distinguished

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Port of Hvar

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South coast of Hvar island

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Spanish Fortress, Hvar town walls

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A view of the city of Hvar from the Castle

Imotski
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Imotski is a small town situated on the northern side of Biokovo massif, Dalmatian Hinterland, Croatia. As of 2011, the population is 4,757. Imotski has a mild and pleasant climate with many sunny days. The town is located close to the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, by the towns of Posušje, the nearest coastal town is Makarska. Imotski is known fo

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Imotski County Hall

Makarska
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Makarska is a small city on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about 60 km southeast of Split and 140 km northwest of Dubrovnik. It has a population of 13,834 residents, administratively Makarska has the status of a city and it is part of the Split-Dalmatia County. Makarska is a tourist centre, located on a horseshoe shaped bay between the Biokovo

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Makarska

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Map depicting the Turks trying to recapture Makarska after the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

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Panorama of Makarska

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A street in Makarska

Sinj
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Sinj is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, Sinj is the center of an area known as Cetinska krajina, a group of settlements situated on a fertile karstic field through which the river Cetina passes. Sinj lies between four

Solin
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Solin is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea, Solin developed on the location of ancient city of Salona which was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and the birthplace of Emperor Diocletian. After the arrival of Avars and Croats in the 7th-century town was destroyed, in the Early Midd

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Solin

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Ruins of the amphitheater of Solin

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View of the Split conurbation (with Solin in the foreground) from Klis

Stari Grad, Croatia
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Stari Grad is a town on the northern side of the island of Hvar in Dalmatia, Croatia. One of the oldest towns in Europe, its position at the end of a long, protected bay, Stari Grad is also a municipality within the Split-Dalmatia County. The most ancient part of Stari Grad falls within the UNESCO Protected World Heritage Site of the Stari Grad Pla

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Panoramic view of Stari Grad, seen from the bay

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Stari Grad from Glavica Hill

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Maslinovik in the Stari Grad Plain

Supetar
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Supetar is a town and a city on the northern side of the Dalmatian island of Brač, in the Split-Dalmatia County, in Croatia. It became the official centre in 1827. The City of Supetar includes the town Supetar and the three villages Splitska, Škrip and Mirca, with a population of 3,326, it is the islands largest and fastest-expanding town with doze

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Supetar Harbor

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Supetar Harbor at dusk

Trilj
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Trilj is a municipality and town in inland Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located southeast of Sinj and northeast of Split, the total population of the municipality is 9,109, with 2,076 in Trilj itself and the rest in small villages. The list of settlements is as follows, In the area of Trilj there are archaeological findings dating way back to Mesolithi

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View of Trilj, Dalmatia (Croatia)

Trogir
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Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,818 and a total municipality population of 13,260. The historic city of Trogir is situated on an island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo. It lies 27 kilometres west of the city of Split, since 1997, the histori

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The town of Trogir

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Kamerlengo Castle

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UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Trogir

Vis (town)
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Vis is a town on the eponymous island in the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia. It has a population of 1,934 residents, the town is also the seat of the eponymous Vis municipality, one of the two municipalities on the island which both administratively belong to the Split-Dalmatia County. Vis was established in the 4th century BC as the Greek polis

Vrlika
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Vrlika is a small town and municipality in inland Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The closest large towns are Sinj, Knin, and Drniš, Vrlika was given the status of city in 1997. Vrlika is located in the Cetinska Krajina region in Split-Dalmatia County and it is 40 km northwest of the town of Sinj on the State route D1 between the towns of Sinj and

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Vrlika below Prozor Fortress

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The source of the Cetina river, 7 km (4 mi) from Vrlika

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Church of St. Saviour in front of Dinara

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Ruins of Dragović monastery

Bol, Croatia
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Bol is a town on the south of the island of Brač in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia, population 1,661. Bol is renowned for its most popular beach, the Zlatni Rat and it is a promontory composed mostly of pebble rock that visibly shifts with the tidal movement. The Adriatic Sea water at Zlatni Rat is clear and somewhat cold, there is a beach on

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Panoramic view of the western end of Bol, with the Zlatni Rat visible in the distance

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The Zlatni Rat beach

Brela
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Brela is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia, population 1,771. The municipality consists of two villages, Brela and Gornja Brela, village Brela is located on the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia, about 15 km northwest of Makarska. Brela is a tourist town located between the Biokovo mountain and the Adriatic Sea and it is known as

Gradac, Split-Dalmatia County
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Gradac, Italian, Labinezza, is the southernmost tourist locality of the Makarska riviera in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, located between Makarska and Ploče. It is about 42 kilometers from Makarska, situated halfway between Split and Dubrovnik, the town of Gradac is a center of a municipality which consists of the places, Brist, Drvenik, Gradac, Poda

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Gradac

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Image of Gradac

Jelsa, Croatia
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Jelsa is a town in Croatia, on the island of Hvar, the seat of the eponymous municipality within the county of Split-Dalmatia. The municipality of Jelsa covers an area of 121.2 km2 from the north coast to the south coast of Hvar, the town of Jelsa is situated in a bay on the middle of the north coast of the island of Hvar. To the south of the town

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Jelsa harbour

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View of Jelsa from the south, from the Tor

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View of Jelsa

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Jelsa, Library on the Riva

Marina, Split-Dalmatia County
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Marina is a town and municipality in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. It has a population of 4,595,97. 6% of whom are Croats, marina is located on the Adriatic Highway. It is a tourist village with a sandy beach shaded by olive, tourist also enjoy the atmosphere of ancient Dalmatian wine cellars, fresh fish and quality local wines, a blend of the an

Podgora, Split-Dalmatia County
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Podgora is a small town in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia. It is located on the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia, the town has a population of 1,500 while the municipality of Podgora has a population of about 3,000. Podgora has a largely tourism-based economy, with its five hotels, it has four times as many beds as inhabitants. It is located 65

Postira
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Postira is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County on the island of Brač. The village of Postira is located on the northern coast of the island of Brač and it is connected with nearby villages Pučišća, Splitska and Dol as well as with the city of Supetar with paved road, where local bus lines operate. The municipality h